diablo vrs triathlon

[mrmanta 0]

how much faster is a diablo compared to a triathlon? is it super high performance, or just slightly more responsive?

[skybytch 273]

I can compare the Diablo to a Spectre, jumped a 150 in both... the Diablo definitely flies faster and turns faster than the Spectre. The Spectre turns a bit faster than a Tri, so....
pull and flare,
lisa
--
What would Scooby Doo?

[PhreeZone 20]

Spectre flys a bit faster then a Tri in full flight too. I tried both in a 170.
Cause I don't wanna come back down from this cloud... ~ Bush

[rhino 0]

It depends on what loading you are at.. I have owned and own both.. I jumped a Triathlon150 loaded at 1.25 for 170 or so jumps I now have a Diablo110 loaded at 1.7 with over 60 jumps.. The Triathlon is a great canopy and so is the Diablo.. What is your wing loading and experience?
Rhino
Blue Skies and Smooth Rides!!

[SniperCJ 0]

I wouldnt even attempt to compare the 2. Theyre definately 2 different animals.
Ive been flying the Diablo at about 1.4 for 200 jumps now and I havnt even begun to explore the performance of it. It turns very fast. I jumped my girlfriend's Tri loaded at just over 1.6 and it felt like driving a 4 door Chevy compared to a nice sports car.
You CAN probably compare the openings tho. THeyre both very nice opening canopies.
Blues
JC

[AndyMan 7]

The triathlon is easily compared to PD's spectre. It's a conservative seven cell that performs best at light loadings. It's a great first canopy for those who error on the side of safety. Triathlon jumpers will walk away from manuevers that put Sabre2 pilots in the hospital. Triathlons are almost always jumped at very light wingloadings <=1.2
The Diablo doesn't really have anything to compare it to. It is debatable weather it's fully or partially eliptical. Personally, I would say it's planform (shape) puts it somewhere between the Stiletto/Crossfire/HeatWave and Sabre2/Safire/Hornet range of canopies. What makes it radically different then any of these canopies is that it is still a seven cell canopy, while the PD/Icarus/pisa products I just mentioned are all nine cells. Seven cell canopies are known for having less lift at the end of the flare. This means people don't tend to load them nearly as heavily as they do nine cells. Realistically, the Diablo maxes out at about a 1.5 wing loading... It can take higher loadings, but the landings get crappier.
Because the Diablo doesn't have great lift at the end of the flare it's not a favorite of those who swoop.
Rumor has it Aerodyne will be comming out with a new line of 9 cell canopies in the hopefully not-to-distant future.
To answer your question, the diablo is a significant performance increase from the Triathlon. You can get away with a lot of things on the Triathlon that the Diablo will bite you for. It is approaching the performance of Stiletto's, Crossfires, and Heatwaves.
The above is my opinion, which is based upon not a hell of a lot of experience, consisting partly of 5 jumps on a diablo.
_Am
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[rhino 0]

Andyman,
Your post is RIGHT on.. Well said..
I am flying my diablo at 1.65.. If I don't bring it in screaming I am running a little trying to finish the flair. Now that I have it dialed in it is fine but I am still getting a crossfire109 to replace it for more bottom end. Great canopy though.. Optimum wing loading MAX would be 1.5 on that thing still having a bottom end. 1.3 would be a very nice flying yet still forgiving canopy.
Rhino
Blue Skies and Smooth Rides!!

[SniperCJ 0]

Rhino, you may have answered a question I have had for a while about my Diablo.
I dont swoop or come in screaming yet and on those no wind days I really have to run it out because I dont get much lift at the end. I figured the diablo really needed a faster approach to get that lift at the bottom, so it sounds like I figured correctly huh?
Guess I better get cranking on that approach!
JC

[rhino 0]

That is the truth. More speed equals more lift so I am told. I am still looking for a crossfire of equal wing loading. A crossfire should solve my problem in the last 10% of the flair.
Blue Skies and Smooth Rides!!

[rhino 0]

What are you loading your Diablo at??
Blue Skies and Smooth Rides!!

[Vlad 0]

I fly a Dia150 loaded at ~1.3. I've flown Lots of tri's, an Omega, Sabre2 135, and Stiletto 150. I would say that only Stiletto is comparable with Diablo. none of the others does. Actually, Stilleto and Diablo seemed quite similar to me in their flight characteristics. They both turn very quick, both loose lots of alti in a turn, both need to be oversteered. The differences are in glide ratios and landings, where Stilletto definitely outperforms Diablo. But 9cell advantages sometimes become disadvantages. I once had to land in a tight place bounded by electric poles, a lake, and lots of planes. Diablo sinked right in ! I doubt that would be possible with Stilleto.

[SniperCJ 0]

Rhine, if that was for me, I'm loading at about 1.45.
JC

[rhino 0]

1.3 should be super.. You at 1.45 SHOULD be o.k. But as usual with the Triathlon and the Diablo if you don't hit the sweet spot it tends to run out of juice a little quick.. I put 20 or so jumps on the 120Diablo before getting the 110.. The bottom end of the 120 was much more forgiving than the 110.. It made that much of a difference. You shouldn't have a problem with 1.45.. Maybe hone the sweetspot a little and come in with a slight carve if you don't already. That should do it.
Rhino
Blue Skies and Smooth Rides!!